Casey Parks, a former full-time JFP staffer who remains a contributing editor while she attends graduate school at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, triumphed over nearly 4,000 American college and graduate school applicants in the New York Times' "Win a Trip With Nick Kristof" contest. She will have the chance to accompany the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist on a reporting jaunt to Africa this September. Parks' winning essay describes her goal to be a journalist as "a distinct want (it's a thirst and a flame, all at once) ... for the reaching outside of myself, to break people's hearts so adeptly that they move into action."

Continue ReadingJackson Free Press Contributing Editor Wins Trip with Nick Kristof

Jason Walsh will take the helm from Linda Xiques this Friday, the Marin County weekly announced in its current issue. Xiques began working at the Sun as an intern before becoming a reporter and then serving as an editor of the paper for 23 years. Walsh "has a broad newspaper background in areas of news and features as well as experience in radio and television," according to the Sun. Most recently, he was news editor at the Sonoma Index-Tribune.

Continue ReadingPacific Sun Hires New Editor

The 53rd annual Unity Awards in Media, announced May 15, recognize "contributions to continuing standards of excellence in media through efforts that reflect accurate exposure of issues affecting minorities and disabled persons." Westword Editor Patty Calhoun won first place in Editorial Writing for her story "A Piece of the Action," while former Riverfront Times writer Mike Seely (now at Seattle Weekly) topped the Politics category with "The Resurrection of Carl Officer."

Continue ReadingWestword, Riverfront Times Win Unity Awards

The alt-weekly's "Goliath Blog," launched Saturday, will chronicle the fight between the local independent media and Gannett Corporation, which owns the daily Clarion-Ledger. Jackson Free Press Publisher Todd Stauffer detailed Gannett's strategy to control distribution spots in a May 9 article. The Goliath blog's first post contains a "Citizens' Guide to Fighting Gannett Corp. Scheme," which invites readers to take action.

Continue ReadingJackson Free Press Blogs Its Battle Against Gannett

A group of national journalism groups, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), sent a letter last week urging Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (pictured) "to treat the Arkansas Times as you do all other media regularly covering the Capitol." Huckabee, who purged the AAN paper from his official notification list last month, didn't respond to the missive, according to the Times. The letters' signatories took exception to the governor's declaration "that the Arkansas Times is not a 'legitimate' newspaper. The fact that it has the fourth highest circulation of any newspaper in your state suggests it has been widely accepted by Arkansas residents and that it has earned the confidence of many of your constituents."

Continue ReadingJournalism Organizations Back Arkansas Times in Huckabee Row